power from vehicle to van

I have a patrol with a Pioneer camper which charges via an anderson plug which is wired directly to the second battery in the car.

Hi Patrolman,

I also have a patrol with a aussie swag camper with 2 deep cycle batterys. The problem with the 7 pin is it dosn't give enough power to charge properly. I was informed from the camper firm to make sure the cable to the anderson plug is a 6BS wire which is a charging wire. It does cost a bit more but we found it well worth it. We have our camper set up to run our 80lt Waeco from the 2nd car battery when we are driving & then switches over to the camper battery when we stop, this allows the camper batterys to charge up quicker.
regards,
Mark R

Electrics is not my strong suit, but when we bought our Kvan which has big bank of deep cycle AGM batteries in it it was emphasised very strongly that one should have at least 14volts at the Anderson plug, or the available amp hours would be significantly reduced, and worse, shorten the life of the batteries which are expensive to say the least. Test shows about 14.3 volts which is good.

Don't believe you'd get that through the conventional 7 pin plug, IMO.

Cheers

Phil

As all the guys above also state ONLY an Anderson plug (not 7 pin plug) will be able to handle the physical cable size and the high current required to maintain a full charge in your Van.

The cable size has to be sufficiently large in (wire) diameter to be able to deliver the current with zero Voltage drop to your Van battery.

Mainey . . .

Hi patrolman

I am curious which wire is used to provide auxiliary power to the van when using a 7 pin plug of either the round or flat types.

My interpretation of the connections as listed do not seem to have a spare wire except the reverse wire. Is this used to power the van? If so it will certainly be of a gauge suitable for lighting and not for charging or van power.

All the other connections are specified to provide compliance with essential lights and indicators. The brake is needed for trailers exceeding 750 kg and is not available.

It appears to me that you must use an Anderson plug or a 12 pin double flat connector and suitable heavy gauge wire (6mm) to get any significant auxiliary power to the van.

Round heavy duty plug & socket

1 earth - white
2 reverse - black
3 left hand turn - yellow
4 stop - red
5 right hand turn - green
6 tail, clearance, side markers - brown
7 brakes - blue


7 pin flat plug & socket

1 left hand turn - yellow
2 reverse -black
3 earth - white
4 right hand turn - green
5 brakes - blue
6 stop - red
7 tail, clearance, side markers - brown

Cheers...Jimbo221